[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 64 (Monday, May 22, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E801]]



                  COMMENDING THE TOWNSHIP OF BERNARDS

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. RODNEY P. FRELINGHUYSEN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 22, 2000

  Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 240th 
Anniversary of the founding of the Township of Bernards, County of 
Somerset, New Jersey.
  Allow me to recount the history of the town. Its earliest inhabitants 
were the Lenape Indians. It was the Chief of the Lenape, named 
Nowenoik, who in 1717, sold the first 3,000 acres of the land which 
would become Bernards Township to an agent of King George I of England 
for $50. William Penn also purchased some of the land in this area 
later that same year.
  In 1733 the name Basking Ridge first appeared in the ecclesiastic 
records of the Presbyterian Church and is recorded as being derived 
from the fact that the ``wild animals of the adjacent lowlands were 
accustomed to bask in the warm sun of this beautiful ridge.''
  In 1760 King George II of England created Bernardston Township by 
charter. This was in honor of Sir Francis Bernard, provincial governor 
of New Jersey from 1758-1760, who created the first Indian Reservation 
at Brotherton, New Jersey at the close of the French and Indian Wars.
  During the American Revolution, Bernardston provided over 100 
soldiers to the war effort. It was in the Widow's White Tavern at the 
corner of Colonial Drive and South Finley Avenue that General Charles 
Lee, second in command only to General George Washington, was captured 
by British Troops. Years later, during the Civil War, Bernards Township 
was a production center for Union uniforms and for axles and wagons in 
its hub and spokes factory.
  Bernards Township has continued to be a location for significant 
events into the 20th century. The Basking Ridge village green was the 
site for a speech given by Woodrow Wilson just before the first World 
War.
  Bernards Township is now home to the headquarters of the American 
Telephone and Telegraph Company, the Bonnie Brae Educational Center, 
Lord Stirling School, Hooper Holmes, Ingersoll Rand, Fellowship 
Deaconry, and the United States Golf Association.
  Mr. Speaker, for the past 240 years, Bernards Township has played a 
significant role in creating the cultural fabric of our state and 
nation's history and will most certainly continue to do so in the years 
to come.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to congratulate the citizens 
of the Township of Bernards on this special anniversary year.

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